George Obama, the half brother of U.S. President Barack Obama, has been arrested by Kenyan police on a charge of possession of marijuana, police said Saturday.

Inspector Augustine Mutembei, the officer in charge, said Obama was arrested on charges of possession of cannabis, known in Kenya as Bhang, and resisting arrest. He is scheduled to appear in court Monday, Mutembei said.

He is being held at Huruma police post in the capital of Nairobi.

In his memoir, "Dreams from My Father," Barack Obama describes meeting George as a "painful affair." Barack Obama's trip to Kenya meant meeting family he had never known.

McKenzie tracked down George Obama in August 2008 and found him at a small house in Huruma, a Nairobi slum, where he lives with his mother's extended family. His birth certificate shows he is Barack Obama's half brother.

The two men share the same Kenyan father. In the memoir, Barack Obama struggles to reconcile with his father after he left him and his mother when he was just a child.

Shades of Roger Clinton and Billy Carter already. Anyone remember when the Bush girls got drunk and the media had a field day? Let's see where the media take this little nugget. What am I thinking, nevermind.

And your point? All presidents, Dem or Rep, have relatives that cause embarassment and it gets reported briefly if it's a slow news day. Mostly it's the comics that run with such stuff. There's more pressing problems with the recession and war to worry about than this. Oh, wait, I guess it's another liberal media conspiracy.

Shades of Roger Clinton and Billy Carter already. Anyone remember when the Bush girls got drunk and the media had a field day? Let's see where the media take this little nugget. What am I thinking, nevermind.

Lula wrote:good thing the house repubs voted against allocating the needed funds to rebuild our infrastructure. no one needs electricity to run heaters or anything.

This is the worst kind reasoning and the typical twisting of the facts that happens when someone votes against a bill. They voted against the bill as a whole, not because it allocated funds to rebuild infrastructure. Heck, I suppose if it had a provision for giving money to the elderly, you'd be saying the Republicans want old folks to die.

One of Reagan's express goals coming into office was to wedge a stake into federal infrastructure spending.
He succeeded.
The Cons of today would prolly have voted against Ike's Interstate Highway System.
Lula is dead on.

"I think we should all sue this women for depriving us of our God given right to go down with a clear mind, and good thoughts." - Stu, Consumate Pussy Eater

MAYFIELD, Ky. (AP) — Gov. Steve Beshear deployed every last one of his Army National Guardsmen on Saturday, with his state still reeling after a deadly ice storm encrusted it this week.

More than half a million homes and businesses, most of them in Kentucky, remained without electricity from the Ozarks through Appalachia, though temperatures creeping into the 40s helped a swarm of utility workers make headway. Finding fuel — heating oil along with gas for cars and generators — was another struggle for those trying to tough it out at home, with hospitals and other essential services getting priority over members of the public.

The addition of 3,000 soldiers and airmen makes 4,600 Guardsmen pressed into service. It's the largest call-up in Kentucky history, which Beshear called an appropriate response to a storm that cut power to more than 600,000 people, the state's largest outage on record. Many people in rural areas cannot get out of their driveways due to debris and have no phone service, the governor said.

"With the length of this disaster and what we're expecting to be a multi-day process here, we're concerned about the lives and the safety of our people in their own homes," Beshear said, "and we need the manpower in some of the rural areas to go door-to-door and do a door-to-door canvass ... and make sure they're OK."

Staff Sgt. Erick Duncan of Murray said he and his colleagues have been putting in long shifts to open tree-littered roads. Duncan, who manned a chain saw, said he expects the assignment to last quite a while.

"It's a mess and we're just in the city limits," he said. "We're not even out in the county yet. And there's plenty of cities and counties to go to."

Thousands of people were staying in motels and shelters, asked to leave their homes by authorities who said emergency teams in some areas were too strapped to reach everyone in need of food, water and warmth. The outages disabled water systems, and authorities warned it could be days or weeks before power was restored in the most remote spots.

That uncertainty had many appealing for help and officials urging those in dark homes to leave, if they could — many were stuck in place by blocked roads and other obstacles.

I guess Barry is home nice and comfy in his office, hot enough to grow orchids in there, and people are freezing to death in Middle America.

Fact Finder wrote:Ok, now this is getting serious....where the hell is FEMA Barack?

KY deploys full Army Nat'l Guard for storm cleanup

The Associated Press

MAYFIELD, Ky. (AP) — Gov. Steve Beshear deployed every last one of his Army National Guardsmen on Saturday, with his state still reeling after a deadly ice storm encrusted it this week.

More than half a million homes and businesses, most of them in Kentucky, remained without electricity from the Ozarks through Appalachia, though temperatures creeping into the 40s helped a swarm of utility workers make headway. Finding fuel — heating oil along with gas for cars and generators — was another struggle for those trying to tough it out at home, with hospitals and other essential services getting priority over members of the public.

The addition of 3,000 soldiers and airmen makes 4,600 Guardsmen pressed into service. It's the largest call-up in Kentucky history, which Beshear called an appropriate response to a storm that cut power to more than 600,000 people, the state's largest outage on record. Many people in rural areas cannot get out of their driveways due to debris and have no phone service, the governor said.

"With the length of this disaster and what we're expecting to be a multi-day process here, we're concerned about the lives and the safety of our people in their own homes," Beshear said, "and we need the manpower in some of the rural areas to go door-to-door and do a door-to-door canvass ... and make sure they're OK."

Staff Sgt. Erick Duncan of Murray said he and his colleagues have been putting in long shifts to open tree-littered roads. Duncan, who manned a chain saw, said he expects the assignment to last quite a while.

"It's a mess and we're just in the city limits," he said. "We're not even out in the county yet. And there's plenty of cities and counties to go to."

Thousands of people were staying in motels and shelters, asked to leave their homes by authorities who said emergency teams in some areas were too strapped to reach everyone in need of food, water and warmth. The outages disabled water systems, and authorities warned it could be days or weeks before power was restored in the most remote spots.

That uncertainty had many appealing for help and officials urging those in dark homes to leave, if they could — many were stuck in place by blocked roads and other obstacles.

I guess Barry is home nice and comfy in his office, hot enough to grow orchids in there, and people are freezing to death in Middle America.

You’ve just gotten the House of Representatives to pass a spending bill that will cost taxpayers $1.2 trillion. You’ve been lecturing companies, executives, and the general public on the need to sacrifice. Unemployment figures are through the roof and more jobs are being cut by the day. The country is in a deep recession with no clear end in sight. What do you do?

Well, if you’re President Obama, you throw a swank cocktail party for your fellow political leaders where you serve expensive steak and vodka martinis. Jake Tapper of ABC News reports:

Hors d’œuvres — chicken curry, wagyu steak — will be served in addition to drinks.

President Obama, it should be noted, is not a particularly big drinker, though he has been known to enjoy a vodka martini time and again.

What exactly is wagyu steak? Why, it’s a $100 per serving porterhouse steak typically sold to “a star-studded roster of clients”.

So far we’ve had expensive cocktail parties and the most expensive inauguration ever from President Obama. Nevermind the White House cranking up the thermostat to a level that, according to David Axelrod, “You could grow orchids in there.” Where is the personal sacrifice from President Obama? Weren’t we told that we couldn’t keep the temperature in our own homes at 72 degrees? And that we couldn’t drive our SUVs?

Hey, any of you guys ever hear of, let alone eat Wagyu Steak? The priciest steak in the World? Evidently this is what the folks in our new Administration serve at their White House cocktail parties. I've heard it runs about $500 a pound but haven't looked it up.

On the night the House passed the Stimulus Bill, Mr. Obama had the nerve to serve this shit while people were freezing in the Midwest and others were feeding their kids Hamburger Helper. In these tough economic times it is a disgrace for our leaders to be dining on $500 a pound Wagyu Beef.

Here's the list of President Obama's invited guests to the White House cocktail party tonight -- essentially the bipartisan bicameral leadership of the House and Senate.

Six House Democrats, six House Republicans, six Senate Democrats, six Senate Republicans. Their spouses are invited as well.

Hors d'œuvres -- chicken curry, wagyu steak -- will be served in addition to drinks.

Who wouldn't love to have been a fly on the wall at that gathering? "Hey Boehner, could you pass me a...oh, never mind, I'll do it without your help."

There is the kernel of a good idea here, but I question the execution a little bit. Wouldn't it have been better to get the House Republicans trashed before the stimulus vote? And, while the red meat was a good idea, announcing that you're serving jillion-dollar-a-pound Wagyu beef on the day you pass recession-fighting legislation is kinda dissonant.

Samuel Joseph Wurzelbacher, of Ohio, became a household name during the presidential campaign after a brief sidewalk debate with candidate Barack Obama.

Politico says Wurzelbacher, who also did a brief stint as a war correspondent in Israel recently, will speak to the Conservative Working Group, an organization of Hill staffers who meet regularly to chart GOP strategy for the week."

Lula wrote:good thing the house repubs voted against allocating the needed funds to rebuild our infrastructure. no one needs electricity to run heaters or anything.

This is the worst kind reasoning and the typical twisting of the facts that happens when someone votes against a bill. They voted against the bill as a whole, not because it allocated funds to rebuild infrastructure. Heck, I suppose if it had a provision for giving money to the elderly, you'd be saying the Republicans want old folks to die.

One of Reagan's express goals coming into office was to wedge a stake into federal infrastructure spending.He succeeded.The Cons of today would prolly have voted against Ike's Interstate Highway System.Lula is dead on.

I don't care what "The Cons of today" would do. This is MY opinion. Anyway, your argument is crap. Conservatives have no problem with spending on infrastructure. Lula is dead off.

Last edited by conversationpc on Wed Feb 04, 2009 5:00 am, edited 1 time in total.

I keep hearing them say that Geitner, Daschle and Killiefer should be given a pass due to the fact that the tax code is so complicated its easy to make a mistake, and as long as they make up for it is ok. Theres no doubt that it is complicated- I know this from being an american overseas who still has to file with the IRS every year and wade through massively confusing rules about foreign tax excepmptions, AMT , what I do and dont have to pay etc etc. However, I have no doubt if I made a mistake or forgot to count something, they woulnt give me a second chance to go and get it right.

Gin and Tonic Sky wrote:I keep hearing them say that Geitner, Daschle and Killiefer should be given a pass due to the fact that the tax code is so complicated its easy to make a mistake, and as long as they make up for it is ok. Theres no doubt that it is complicated- I know this from being an american overseas who still has to file with the IRS every year and wade through massively confusing rules about foreign tax excepmptions, AMT , what I do and dont have to pay etc etc. However, I have no doubt if I made a mistake or forgot to count something, they woulnt give me a second chance to go and get it right.

Not only that, but each of these people has the money to hire the best tax accountant in America to prepare their taxes for them. We don't make anywhere near what these people do, but we pay a professional $350 a year to do our damn taxes. We the peons are not allowed to make such mistakes.

Gin and Tonic Sky wrote:I keep hearing them say that Geitner, Daschle and Killiefer should be given a pass due to the fact that the tax code is so complicated its easy to make a mistake, and as long as they make up for it is ok. Theres no doubt that it is complicated- I know this from being an american overseas who still has to file with the IRS every year and wade through massively confusing rules about foreign tax excepmptions, AMT , what I do and dont have to pay etc etc. However, I have no doubt if I made a mistake or forgot to count something, they woulnt give me a second chance to go and get it right.

Not only that, but each of these people has the money to hire the best tax accountant in America to prepare their taxes for them. We don't make anywhere near what these people do, but we pay a professional $350 a year to do our damn taxes. We the peons are not allowed to make such mistakes.

Jana wrote:I'm so glad Tom Daschle is out. He says it was his decision to step down. They always say that, but it's always because they are pressured to do it. Obama should have made this decision earlier.

Now can we put him in jail like we did to Leona Helmsley and Martha Stewart?

I give him a c- at best. Starting to look like, although not quite, W's administration.

He had better get his black ass on the move and but quick.

Shit, now this is coming out, the hits just keep on coming....jeez guys, pay your fucking taxes like everyone else.

President Obama’s Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner and Health and Human Services Secretary nominee Tom Daschle have been getting some attention regarding their failure to pay taxes, but what about Al Franken?

Franken, who is still fighting incumbent GOP Sen. Norm Coleman for Minnesota’s Senate seat, failed to pay at least $70,000 in taxes to 17 states prior to running for office.

Minnesota’s Star Tribune reported Franken was paid to appear at a number of celebrity appearances across the country and file taxes appropriately in those states since 2003. Franken’s team released a spreadsheet to media detailing the debt through the campaign, but there has not been any verification Franken has actually paid them down yet.

Hey Dean, help me out, who in W's admin had these kinds of tax problems except for Bernard Kerik. This is looking like a record of promoting tax cheats, and I'm still galled that the Pubs didn't kill Geithner as TreasSec. Dem or Pub, this is not a comfort to the public who actually pay attention. It pisses alot of people off bigtime, O needs a better vetting machine or something.

Fact Finder wrote:Hey Dean, help me out, who in W's admin had these kinds of tax problems except for Bernard Kerik. This is looking like a record of promoting tax cheats, and I'm still galled that the Pubs didn't kill Geithner as TreasSec. Dem or Pub, this is not a comfort to the public who actually pay attention. It pisses alot of people off bigtime, O needs a better vetting machine or something.

Sorry but you can't put Franken on Obama. Or Rangel. The three nominees are fully the responsibility of the administration, because they not only did not vet them properly, but have gone out of their way to 'support' them, even though they claimed things would be different. Those tax issues have been dogging Franken for quite a while and piece of dog crap still got elected..well, sort of.

Can't help you out FF, as the W admin was too secret. You couldn't get anything out of them.

I will say this, well 2 things:

1) Regarding the unpaid taxes by these Nominees. Bullshit. They get away with this shit until called upon, and then it's "oh, fuck, I missed that? let me get my checkbook." Unacceptable. Makes one wonder how long they did get away with that bullshit.

2) Don't get too giddy though Pubs. Your boy Rove is about to get his red ass boiled something fierce. He is guilty and has to face the music.

Gin and Tonic Sky wrote:I keep hearing them say that Geitner, Daschle and Killiefer should be given a pass due to the fact that the tax code is so complicated its easy to make a mistake, and as long as they make up for it is ok. Theres no doubt that it is complicated- I know this from being an american overseas who still has to file with the IRS every year and wade through massively confusing rules about foreign tax excepmptions, AMT , what I do and dont have to pay etc etc. However, I have no doubt if I made a mistake or forgot to count something, they woulnt give me a second chance to go and get it right.

You better believe you wouldn't be getting a second chance. But it's not limited to Dem politicians. I've heard first-hand stories of people owing $25k+ in back taxes and "settling" up and paying $2500. You know those commercials you see about settling your debt for less than you owe? Unfortunately, those fuckers aren't selling snake oil.

I give him a c- at best. Starting to look like, although not quite, W's administration.

He had better get his black ass on the move and but quick.

It definitely doesn't look good for those most advocating higher taxes to not be paying them. Clinton had a problem or two like this back in the day, definitely w/ AG nominee Lani Guinier. Can't remember who else, if anyone.

One thing these guys aren't lying about is that the tax code is fuckin complicated. If anything, this is a great endorsement for burning the IR code in favor of either the flat tax or the fair tax (national sales tax). Sin taxes stay or possibly raised a bit in the event of the flat tax. No more fancy tax havens, no more "honest mistakes," less incentive to hide your money, all history points to more tax revenue. Seems to me everyone wins but the H&R Blocks and tax attorneys of the world

So far, Obama's vision of govt reform/campaign pledges are starting to affirm his pre-election critics: Too lofty, too idealistic. There are a lot of deadbeats out there, with Ds, Rs, and Is after their names. I don't really blame him too much for these clowns' problems coming to light. He really should stop acting like his vetting process is foolproof though.

Last edited by Ehwmatt on Wed Feb 04, 2009 10:36 am, edited 1 time in total.

Fact Finder wrote:Hey Dean, help me out, who in W's admin had these kinds of tax problems except for Bernard Kerik. This is looking like a record of promoting tax cheats, and I'm still galled that the Pubs didn't kill Geithner as TreasSec. Dem or Pub, this is not a comfort to the public who actually pay attention. It pisses alot of people off bigtime, O needs a better vetting machine or something.

Sorry but you can't put Franken on Obama. Or Rangel. The three nominees are fully the responsibility of the administration, because they not only did not vet them properly, but have gone out of their way to 'support' them, even though they claimed things would be different. Those tax issues have been dogging Franken for quite a while and piece of dog crap still got elected..well, sort of.

No, I'm not putting Franken and Rangel on Obama. You are correct. They are on that side (D) though, and thus fair game. I'm seeing a lot of Dem tax cheats the last few days. Plus Blago. Just sayin'.

Rockindeano wrote:Can't help you out FF, as the W admin was too secret. You couldn't get anything out of them.

I will say this, well 2 things:

1) Regarding the unpaid taxes by these Nominees. Bullshit. They get away with this shit until called upon, and then it's "oh, fuck, I missed that? let me get my checkbook." Unacceptable. Makes one wonder how long they did get away with that bullshit.

2) Don't get too giddy though Pubs. Your boy Rove is about to get his red ass boiled something fierce. He is guilty and has to face the music.

Now, I have fairly bashed my own, will you do the same?

Rove is a non issue now to the GOP I think. Conyers is on a fishing trip and Karl won't bite. I give Barry credit for one thing, in these tough economics times he's outed 3 tax cheats and brought close to $200,000 in to the IRS in back taxes. We need that money!

Imagine how Daschle must feel right now, if O hadn't Nominated him to HHS, he'd still be $140 thousand richer and no one would be the wiser.